Tag Archives: sidecar

Welcome to my new series: Friday Fails. Each week I’ll bring you another dubious video of something awful to kick your weekend off just right — with the scream of rubber on pavement. I’m a big fan of helmets, gloves, boots, eye protection and common sense. By the looks of these knuckleheads, they have “none […]

It wasn’t as scary as the name implies. No zombies were sighted — if you don’t count the staggering, vacant faces gathered ’round the coffee pot Saturday morning, waiting for the perk to begin. It was just a motorcycle campout on the Dead River in T3R4. It was a record turnout for these loosely […]

All my hard riding over dirt, through the rain and into the woods — not to mention my melted pants — paid off in the end. Out of 117 riders from all over the country, plus a few from the rest of the globe, I placed ninth in this year’s Ural National Rally . I’m […]

Wednesday June 11, 2014 / Madawaska to Fredericton Total kilometers: 350 I finished my omelette in the Gateway Motel’s diner as workmen put up a new, lighted exit sign. The whole joint was going through a serious renovation. My room was brand-spanking new. I rode up Madawaska’s main drag, looking for the McDonalds. I’d heard it […]

Tuesday June 10, 2014 / Millinocket to Madawaska Total kilometers: 363 The sprinkles turned in to a steady rain while I ate an omelette in the Millinocket cafe. The coffee was passable. The homemade English muffins seemed to be nothing more than round slices of toast, but they were deliciously grilled. The waitress offered me the […]

Monday June 9, 2014 / Portland to Millinocket Total kilometers: 279 I left portland at the stroke of 2:30 p.m. I’d planned, of course, on leaving at dawn like a real adventurer. But it’s hard to stick to deadlines when you’re on vacation. I was making for the St. John River. Every winter, after Christmas sometime, […]

My three-wheeled motorcycle coasted down the hill toward the water in Old Orchard Beach on Monday. In my sidecar was BDN biz reporter Darren Fishell. We were on assignment, asking folks if the falling Loony would affect business in the seaside town where so many Canadians spend their vacations. I rolled past the metered, motorcycle-only […]

I’d made up my mind. The next person who walked through the door, brushing sleet off their shoulders, motioning to my motorcycle parked outside and asking, “How’s the riding?” was going to get my small paper cup full of coffee in the face. I’m not normally a hostile person. I’ve waited out the rain in […]

Here’s a video I didn’t make. My sidecar riding pal, John, made made this short film. It features himself, another three-wheeled scallawag named Poacher Bob and an intrepid youngster named Jackson as they amble up the Sandwich Notch Road in New Hampshire. I don’t know exactly when it took place but, by the foliage, I’d […]

I came to a stop behind Thermos on the dusty trail. He had both of his gloved hands over his head. He was clapping. Just ahead of him, in the middle of a small stream was Keith. His bike was submerged, up to both cylinder heads, in brown water. The rear of the bike was […]